Surplus Labour

Abstract

Informal labour relations and underemployed persons abound in many formerly colonized countries. The abundance of persons offering their labour power in relationship to the limited demand for their labour stems from the insufficient absorption of peasants set free from their land. In many late industrializing countries, most of those who are leaving agriculture do not find gainful employment. In fact, many of the late industrializers are prematurely de-industrializing. Based on a comparison between the conditions prevalent among the early industrializers and present-day latecomers to industry and advanced services, this chapter highlights how the generally violent passage from an agrarian-rural to a capitalist industrial-urban economy is aggravated by imperialist legacies and current post-imperialist practices for many countries of the Global South.